The New York Mets added McNeil to the roster for their National League Championship Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers before Sunday's Game 1, opting to also keep Luisangel Acuña as a backup infielder. McNeil is coming off playing back-to-back games in the Arizona Fall League, one at second base and the other in right field. With Jose Iglesias locked in as the regular second baseman, McNeil might get starts at one of the outfield corners or be used as a left-handed bat off the bench. McNeil's bat could be even more valuable given the Dodgers will be without a key left-handed reliever in Alex Vesia, who suffered an intercostal injury in Game 5 of the team's NL Division Series. The Dodgers replaced Vesia with right-hander Brent Honeywell, who will probably be used to provide length out of the bullpen. Miguel Rojas, who has been playing through a tear in an adductor muscle, did not make the NLCS roster, replaced by left-handed-hitting center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. Rojas' absence means Tommy Edman will be the every-day shortstop, prompting Enrique Hernandez to start in center field. If Freddie Freeman's sprained right ankle keeps him out of the lineup at any point in this series, the Dodgers will probably move Max Muncy to first base and Hernandez to third, with Andy Pages taking over in center. The Mets went with 14 position players and 12 pitchers, leaving veteran right-hander Adam Ottavino off the roster.
Ottavino's Time With the Mets Could Be Over
LOS ANGELES — Not much changed in the routine of Adam Ottavino, who worked out and threw in the outfield before heading to team meetings Sunday. He is keeping his arm ready in case he is needed at some point, but such a scenario has become unlikely after he was removed from the Mets roster for the NLCS. The 38-year-old, longtime veteran and clubhouse leader became the odd man out when Jeff McNeil was added, with the Mets dropping down to 12 pitchers.
“I’m just going to contribute how I can and support the team,” Ottavino said before the Mets began the series at Dodger Stadium. “It is what it is.” Ottavino has warmed up but has not pitched in October, having tumbled down the bullpen hierarchy amid an inconsistent season. Danny Young also did not pitch in the wild-card round or the NLDS, but he represents the lone traditional lefty in the pen (with David Peterson used for longer outings). In Ottavino’s final four outings of the regular season, he threw 4 ¹/₃ scoreless and hitless innings while walking two and striking out five, including throwing a scoreless frame in the clincher in Atlanta and another clean frame in the nightcap. The Saturday night conversation was “not an easy one,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. Ottavino declined to talk about it.
“He’s such a professional,” Mendoza said. “He understood, and he brings a lot to this team not only on the field but off the field. … He’s one of the veterans here.” There is a strong chance Ottavino has thrown his final pitch with the Mets after three mostly solid seasons in which he has pitched to a 3.14 ERA in 192 games. In Ottavino’s mind, there is no chance he has thrown his final major league pitch. Ottavino, who wants to be a manager someday, plans to pitch in the Dominican Winter League this offseason and return for what would be his 20th professional season and 15th in the majors.
“I’m playing next year,” said Ottavino, whose finished the regular season with a 4.34 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 56 innings. The advanced, expected statistics liked Ottavino more than the traditional ones. His expected ERA was 3.13. Opposing hitters batted .230 against him with a .200 expected average. He walked 3.70 batters per nine innings, an improvement from the 4.23 pace he pitched to last season, when his back-of-the-baseball-card numbers were better.
“I think it’s impossible to evaluate my season,” Ottavino said. “I did a lot of things elite level, and yet I gave up too many runs. So very hard to evaluate it. Been having a hard time figuring that out, how to feel about it.
“But I felt like I threw the ball really well the majority of the time. Had a couple innings that got away from me and kind of killed me. That’s baseball.”
Rojas Out For NLCS, Edman Moves to Shortstop
The Dodgers and Mets have announced their 26-man rosters for the NLCS this afternoon. Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas was a notable omission from the L.A. roster, while Mets infielder Jeff McNeil is notably joining the club’s roster after a wrist fracture sidelined him throughout the final month of the regular season and the early part of the playoffs. Rojas was replaced on the club’s roster by outfielder Kevin Kiermaier, while right-hander Adam Ottavino was dropped from the Mets’ roster to accommodate McNeil. Left-hander Alex Vesia was also left off the Dodgers’ latest roster, with right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. added to the roster as Vesia’s replacement. Rojas, Ottavino, and Vesia will be eligible for the club’s World Series roster because they were not removed from the roster mid-series.
Rojas departs the club’s postseason roster after suffering a partially torn adductor muscle late in the regular season. The 35-year-old veteran was able to rest up during the Wild Card Series, which the Dodgers did not participate in after capturing a bye through the first round, and participate in the NLDS against the Padres. He re-aggravated the injury while playing in the series, however, and appeared in just three of the five games while going 2-for-8 at the plate. While Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times notes that Rojas believes that he’s currently healthy enough to play, the Dodgers were evidently concerned that if Rojas aggravated the injury further he would be unavailable for the World Series in the event that the club advances. By leaving him off the NLCS roster entirely, the Dodgers hope to give Rojas the opportunity to rest up for the World Series.
With the Dodgers’ primary shortstop no longer available, Tommy Edman now figures to slide from center field to shortstop on a regular basis. That opens up center field for utility bat Enrique Hernandez, who impressed during the NLDS with a three-for-nine performance that included a home run. The strong showing added to Hernandez’s lengthy postseason resume, as he’s a career .277/.351/.548 hitter in 211 trips to the plate across 75 playoff games, 64 of which have come in a Dodgers uniform. Kevin Kiermaier and Andy Pages are both on the roster as potential backup options in center field should an injury occur, while Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, and Hernandez himself all have experience at shortstop should a replacement for Edman be necessary at any point during the series.
McNeil Returns, Provides Mets With Lefty Bat
While the Dodgers are losing a key member of their middle infield ahead of the series, the Mets are returning one of their own from the injured list in McNeil. The 32-year-old struggled through a second consecutive down season at the plate this year, posting just a .238/.308/.384 slash line (97 wRC+) in 128 games before going on the shelf due to a fractured wrist in early September. Five weeks after hitting the injured list, McNeil now returns to the roster to provide the Mets with a versatile lefty bat capable of slotting into second base, third base, and the outfield corners as needed. Journeyman Jose Iglesias has handled the keystone in McNeil’s absence but could take a seat on the bench for the NLCS after hitting just .207/.233/.207 in 30 trips to the plate across seven games this postseason. Rookie Luisangel Acuna is also on the postseason roster as a middle infield option but has primarily found usage as a defensive replacement to this point in the club’s playoff run.
The addition of McNeil’s lefty bat to the lineup could be particularly valuable for the Mets given the Dodgers’ loss of Vesia. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters yesterday that Vesia was unlikely to make the NLCS roster due to an intercostal injury, and that eventuality has now come to pass. While Roberts floated the possibility of right-hander Tony Gonsolin (who missed the entire 2024 regular season while rehabbing Tommy John surgery) replacing Vesia on the club’s NLCS roster, it seems that L.A. ultimately decided to turn to Honeywell rather than lean on Gonsolin to get postseason outs in his first big league appearance in over a year. The 29-year-old Honeywell has posted a solid 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings of work for the Pirates and Dodgers this year despite a lackluster 4.28 FIP and figures to provide L.A. with a much-needed multi-inning option as the club weighs the possibility of multiple bullpen games during the course of the seven-game series.
